F1 Mexican Grand Prix LIVE – Lewis Hamilton eyes Max Verstappen battle

F1 preview: A lap at the Mexican Grand Prix

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Lewis Hamilton will be hoping to challenge Max Verstappen for a long-awaited victory at the Mexican Grand Prix after Mercedes turned plenty of heads with their impressive pace in qualifying. The Silver Arrows were up there with the likes of Ferrari and Red Bull and will be desperate to put the pressure on pole-sitter Verstappen over the course of today’s race, with George Russell set to start from just behind the Dutchman on the front row of the grid.

However, the weekend so far has been dominated by the off-track proceedings involving the FIA and Red Bull, who were hit with a fine of £6million and a reduction in wind tunnel hours earlier this week after breaching last year’s strict budget cap. The fallout is still taking shape after Red Bull’s punishment was officially confirmed on Friday but Christian Horner has already urged the FIA to invest the fine money into keeping other championships afloat, with this year’s W Series having been cut short ahead of schedule due to a lack of funding.

“It’s an enormous amount of money and obviously it’s down to the FIA what it chooses to do with that money,” said the Red Bull team principal. “We just hope it gets put to good use. Obviously, we see championships that are struggling at the moment and hopefully it can do some good.”

Follow Express Sport‘s live updates from the Mexican Grand Prix below.

KEY EVENTS

  • Good evening19:00

    • Plenty of love for Perez

    Sergio Perez walked into the packed-out stadium section of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez about 20 minutes ago and was met with an incredible reception from his loving fans in the stands.

    He is certainly the crowd favourite, as you would expect at his home race, and managed to get on the podium last year to the delight of the thousands of Mexicans in attendance.

    Will he be able to do so again when the chequered flag drops later today? Only time will tell…

    Qualifying report

    Max Verstappen left it late to pip George Russell and Lewis Hamilton to pole position with his final Q3 run at the end of a thrilling hour of qualifying on Saturday.

    Mercedes were the quickest team on track in Q1 and Q2, with Hamilton topping the timesheets on both occasions, but were unable to prevent Verstappen from setting the fastest lap of the day by a margin of just over three-tenths.

    Hamilton saw his first Q3 lap deleted after exceeding track limits, which left him with just one attempt to beat Verstappen, while Russell made a crucial mistake that stopped him from snatching pole away from the Red Bull man in the dying seconds of the session.

    Catch up on the full story from qualifying here.

    Good evening

    Hello and welcome to Express Sport‘s live coverage of this year’s Mexican Grand Prix.

    Max Verstappen is chasing the record for the highest number of wins in a single F1 season and will get it today if he takes the chequered flag from pole position at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

    The Dutchman could be tested by the likes of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, though, with Mercedes having looked surprisingly quick in Friday’s practice sessions and in qualifying on Saturday.

    Home favourite Sergio Perez will also be looking to give his adoring fans something to cheer about by troubling the leaders over the course of today’s 71-lap contest, but he will have to do something special to claim a stunning win from fourth on the grid.

    We’re just an hour away from the start of the race and will be on hand to keep you updated with the action as it unfolds.

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